How to Use 就 in Chinese (and 就 vs 才)

就 (jiù) is an adverb that goes before the verb, after the subject, and it has a handful of jobs. It says something happened early or quickly, sooner than you'd expect (the opposite of 才, cái). It means "then" after a condition, as in 如果…就 ("if… then") and 一…就 ("as soon as"). In front of a number it means "only" or "just": 我就一个哥哥 (wǒ jiù yí ge gēge), "I've only got one older brother". And as 就是 it adds emphasis: 就是这个, "this is the one". For example, 我一下班就回家 (wǒ yí xiàbān jiù huí jiā) is "I'll go home as soon as I finish work".

Below is a table of every common use, then the comparison most learners need, 就 vs 才, with a decision table. After that come 一…就, the "if… then" patterns, 就 for "only", 就是, and a set of example sentences. The example sentences are from Mandarin Mosaic's HSK lessons, checked by a native speaker. 就 is an HSK 2 word (level 1 on HSK 3.0) and 才 is HSK 3; you can check any other word's level with our HSK level checker.

All the Uses of 就 in One Table

Most of the confusion goes away once you see that these are separate uses, each with its own pattern. Find the pattern in your sentence, and the meaning follows.

In every one of these, 就 sits after the subject and before the verb (or before 是, or the number). That's normal for Chinese adverbs: the Chinese Grammar Wiki's page on adverbs notes that they normally come before the main verb, and that many can't come before the subject. Our Chinese grammar lessons list 如果…就, 一…就 and 既然…就 (jìrán…jiù, "since… then") as single rows among the other HSK patterns; this page is the full guide to 就 itself.

就 vs 才: Earlier or Later Than Expected

就 and 才 are both time adverbs that go before the verb, and they're opposites. 就 says something happened earlier or faster than you'd expect. 才 says it happened later or more slowly than expected, sometimes with a note of impatience. Put both on the same event and you can hear the difference:

• 他八点就来了 (tā bā diǎn jiù lái le): "he came at eight", and that's early.
• 他十点才来 (tā shí diǎn cái lái): "he didn't come until ten", and that's late.

Nothing in the facts changes except the speaker's expectation. One of our lesson sentences uses both, for two events on the same morning:

Both words come after the time word and before the verb: time, then 就 or 才, then the verb. The Chinese Grammar Wiki's comparison of 才 and 就 sets out the same contrast, with more examples.

The 了 Rule: 就…了, but 才 Without 了

When 就 describes something that happened early, the verb usually takes 了: 他八点就来了. The Grammar Wiki's page on earliness with 就 gives the past pattern as time + 就 + verb + 了, because the action after 就 feels completed. When 就 is about the future ("right away"), there's no 了: 医生一会儿就到.

才 works the other way. For "not until", the verb after 才 doesn't take 了, according to the wiki's page on lateness with 才:

• ✓ 他十点才来。 (tā shí diǎn cái lái.) He didn't come until ten.
• ✗ 他十点才来了。 Wrong: drop the 了.

That rule is for the "late" meaning. When 才 means "only" with an amount (next section), a 了 after the verb is fine: the wiki's example is 你才点了三个菜 (nǐ cái diǎn le sān ge cài), "you only ordered three dishes".

才 and 就 With Numbers: "Only"

Both words can also mean "only" with a small amount, and here they aren't opposites. 才 before a number or an age means "only":

才 before a clock time works the same way: 才六点 (cái liù diǎn) is "it's only six", so it isn't late yet. 就 can also mean "only" before a verb with a small amount, and the Grammar Wiki treats the two as essentially interchangeable there: 你们每天就睡四个小时？ (nǐmen měi tiān jiù shuì sì ge xiǎoshí?), "you only sleep four hours a day?".

就 or 才? The Decision Table

Ask what the speaker thinks about the time or the amount. Earlier or faster than expected is 就; later or slower is 才; a small amount can take either.

The last row shows the two working together: 才 marks something that has only just happened, and 就 marks what came straight after it. The examples in the last three rows come from the Grammar Wiki's comparison page. If 就 and 才 are one of several pairs you mix up, our guide to commonly confused Chinese words covers 20 more HSK 1–2 pairs, such as 想 vs 要 and 知道 vs 认识.

一…就: "As Soon As"

一…就 joins two events, with the second following straight after the first: 一 + event 1, 就 + event 2. The Grammar Wiki's page on 一…就 says the two events can have the same subject or different ones; if it's the same, you don't repeat it. When the second event has its own subject, 就 goes after that subject:

• ✓ 他就生气了: subject, then 就, then the verb.
• ✗ 我一告诉他，就他生气了。 Wrong: 就 can't go in front of 他 here.

就 in front of a subject isn't impossible, but it changes the meaning to "only": 这件事就我知道 (zhè jiàn shì jiù wǒ zhīdào) is "only I know about this" (more on that below).

The same pattern also means "every time": 她一生气就脸红 (tā yì shēngqì jiù liǎnhóng), "she goes red every time she gets angry". Context tells you which: a one-off event is "as soon as", a habit is "every time". The 一 changes tone with the syllable after it, as usual: yí before a fourth tone (一下班, yí xiàbān), yì before the others (一回到家, yì huídào jiā).

如果…就 and 要是…就: "If… Then"

如果 (rúguǒ) sets up a condition, and 就 starts the result: "if…, then…". As with 一…就, 就 comes after the second clause's subject, not before it:

• 就 can be dropped. English often leaves out "then", and the Grammar Wiki's page on 如果…就 says Chinese can leave out 就 the same way.
• 要是 (yàoshi) is the spoken version. It works like 如果 but is more informal, according to the wiki's page on 要是, and the subject can go before it, as in 今天要是星期三 above.
• Not every 就是 is emphasis. In 前天就是星期一, 就 is the "then" of the 要是 clause, and 是 is just "is".

只要…就 ("As Long As") and 只有…才 ("Only If")

These two look alike and are easy to mix up. 只要…就 (zhǐyào…jiù) gives a condition that's enough on its own to get the result: "as long as". 只有…才 (zhǐyǒu…cái) gives the one condition you can't do without: "only if". The Grammar Wiki calls the first a sufficient condition (只要…就) and the second a necessary one (只有…才). Compare:

The first sentence promises good grades to anyone who studies hard. The second says there's no way into university without it. Keep the pairs together: 只要 goes with 就, 只有 with 才. 既然…就 (jìrán…jiù, "since… then") follows the same shape, and it's in the advanced table of our Chinese grammar lessons.

就 for "Only" and "Just", and How It Differs from 只

The Grammar Wiki's page on 就 for a small quantity gives three places it can go:

• Before a number and a noun, meaning "only have": 我就一个哥哥 (wǒ jiù yí ge gēge), "I've only got one older brother". This means the same as 我只有一个哥哥, but the wiki warns that 就有 isn't right here: use 就 on its own.
• Before a verb with an amount after it: 我就去过一次 (wǒ jiù qù guo yí cì), "I've only been there once".
• Before the subject, to single out one person or thing: 这件事就我知道, "only I know about this".

只 (zhǐ) is the basic word for "only", and it goes before the verb: 我只有一个哥哥 (wǒ zhǐ yǒu yí ge gēge). 只 is an HSK 3 word, a level above 就. The two can also appear together, with 就 stressing the 只. In this sentence the first 就 goes with 只 ("only"), and the second is the "then" of the result:

就是: "Exactly", "Just Won't" and "It's Just That"

就是 (jiù shì) is 就 adding force to 是. The Grammar Wiki's page on 就是 describes the emphasis as often intense, sometimes stubborn. It has a few uses:

• "Is exactly", "is the very one". 就是 + a noun points something out: 那就是我昨天见到的那个人, in the table at the top, is "that's the man I saw yesterday", with the stress on "that". 这就是为什么… is "this is why…".
• "Just won't", "simply". 就是 before a verb, often with 不, makes a stubborn statement: 这辆倒霉汽车就是发动不起来！, "the wretched car just won't start!". 就 alone does the same: 我就要去！ (wǒ jiù yào qù!), "I just want to go!".
• "Only because". 他这样说就是不喜欢我 (tā zhèyàng shuō jiù shì bù xǐhuan wǒ): "he only said that because he doesn't like me" (the wiki's example).
• "It's just that…". After a concession, 就是 introduces the drawback: 好吃是好吃，就是不太健康 (hǎochī shì hǎochī, jiù shì bú tài jiànkāng), "it's tasty, it's just that it isn't very healthy". The wiki's page on conceding a point notes that the part after 就是 has to be negative.
• "Either… or". 不是 A，就是 B: if it isn't A, it's B, as in the weather sentence in the table at the top (Grammar Wiki).

Example Sentences with 就 and 才

Fifteen more sentences from the lessons, grouped by use, with the easier ones first in each group. Cover the English and try to say which use of 就 each one is before you check.

Notice the 了 in the 就 sentences about the past (就睡着了, 就收到了) and its absence after 才 (才醒, 才开始). That's the rule from the 就 vs 才 section at work. Learning 就 from whole sentences like these, rather than from a one-line gloss, is the idea behind sentence mining: each sentence shows one use in context.

Common Mistakes with 就

• Putting 就 before the subject. English puts "then" before the subject ("then he got angry"), but Chinese puts 就 after it: 他就生气了, not 就他生气了. (就 before a subject means "only", as in 就我知道.)
• Adding 了 after 才. 他十点才来, not 他十点才来了. Keep 了 for the 就 version: 他八点就来了.
• Mixing up the pairs. 只要 goes with 就 and 只有 with 才. 如果, 要是, 一 and 既然 all take 就.
• Saying 就有 for "only have". 我就一个哥哥 or 我只有一个哥哥, but not 我就有一个哥哥 in this sense, according to the Grammar Wiki.

The same habit of checking which word fits the situation helps with the "can" verbs; our post on 会 vs 能 vs 可以 works through them the same way. 就 itself is in the adverbs table of our HSK 2 vocabulary list, with 也, 还, 再 and 已经.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the Difference Between 就 and 才?

For time, they're opposites. 就 means something happened earlier or faster than expected (他八点就来了, "he came at eight", early); 才 means later or slower (他十点才来, "he didn't come until ten"). With a small number, both can mean "only": 他才十岁, "he's only ten".

Where Does 就 Go in a Sentence?

After the subject and any time word, and before the verb: 他八点就来了, 我们就去. In a two-part sentence such as 如果…就 or 一…就, it goes after the second part's subject, if it has one: 我一告诉他，他就生气了. Put it before a subject only when you mean "only": 就我知道, "only I know".

Does 就 Always Need 了?

No. 就 takes 了 when it describes something that already happened early (她一大早就起床了). When it's about the future, there's no 了 (医生一会儿就到), and the "if… then" and 就是 uses don't need one either. It's 才, in the "not until" meaning, that shouldn't have 了 after the verb.

What Does 就是 Mean?

Usually "is exactly" or "is the very one" (那就是我昨天见到的那个人). Before a verb it can mean "just won't" or "simply" (就是发动不起来), after a concession it means "it's just that…", and in 不是…就是 it means "either… or". Sometimes it's just 就 ("then") followed by 是 ("is"), as in 前天就是星期一.

Is 就 the Same as 只?

Not in general, but they overlap for "only". 我就一个哥哥 and 我只有一个哥哥 both mean "I've only got one older brother". As an adverb, 只 means "only" and nothing else; 就 has all the other uses on this page, so look at the pattern around it to tell which one you've got.

More Posts: